68 Minutes Pagan Metal - 90%

Moonsorrow will release this month an EP with only one new song… scandalous! No wait a moment, the song is as long as half of the record? Ah yeah I’ve forgot: it’s fucking Moonsorrow! In retrospect to their latest full-length release “Hävitetty”, a song length of 30 minutes appears absolutely normal (Hävitetty had 2 songs and a length of 56 minutes).But with “Tulimyrsky”, Moonsorrow surpasses themselves: 68 minutes for an EP…that’s insane!
In addition to the title song, which is the only new song, Moonsorrow has chosen some covers and remastered songs for the EP: For whom the bell tolls (Metallica Cover), Back to the north (Merciless Cover), Taistelu Pohjolasta and Hvergelmir, two renovated songs from already released records/demos.

Let’s start with the new song Tulimyrsky, a 30 minutes epos which starts very conservative: acoustic guitars, the sound of a river and a guy who tells us something in finish. Pure northern atmosphere…but then, after 4 minutes, the first surprise: the sound of Tulimyrsky sounds dirtier than his forerunner and with the first blast-beat comes the impression that Moonsorrow has been influenced by some Nordic raw black metal bands. But after a brutal start, Paganism and Folklore gets the upper hand and the Finnish musicians return to their well know music-style. Choirs, dramatic turnarounds and melodies, written by the Nordic nature…pagan metal at his best!
The Metallica cover For whom the bell tolls is one of the best covers I ever heard. Why? Because Moonsorrow manages to award this thrash metal song a very personal pagan note. Many bands only copy the song that they want to cover, but Moonsorrow adds 3 minutes and a lot of atmosphere. Great!
The two remastred songs are ideal for those who have missed Moonsorrow’s earlier releases and Back to the North is a nice goody for every fan of the Swedish death metal band Merciless.

You call yourself a Moonsorrow fan? Then you don’t need to hesitate with this EP! “Tulimyrsky” shortens the time until the next full-length record, which will be, in all probability, another masterpiece of pagan metal, no doubts!